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Director-writer-producer-star Chen Kaige, well known for his visually sumptuous tales of historical China (FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE) directs this sweet-natured coming of age tale set in modern day Beijing. An impoverished cook, Liu Chen (Liu Peiqui), gives up his provincial life to move his 13-year-old violin virtuoso son, Xiaochun (Tang Yun), to Beijing so that he can audition for a prestigious music school. Once in the crowded industrial city Liu is bewildered by the big money and corruption and Xiaochun is forced to learn about the perils of the real world and the high stress of competitive classical music training from Professor Tiang (Wang Zhiwen), a cynical and eccentric music teacher. While Liu struggles as a lowly food delivery man, Xiaochun blossoms as a musician, but also as a modern day teenager, full of confusion and desire. His desire is provoked by their neighbor, Lili (Chen Hong--Chen Kaige's wife), a high-class call girl whose love of money and power masks a pure heart that tenderly cares for the young boy. With dreams of his son's potential, Liu hires a second teacher, Professor Yu (played by Chen Kaige), who is a slick and ruthless starmaker. Finally, Xiaochun must decide whether his dreams are the same as his father's, in this moving tale set to an eloquent classical music soundtrack.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreen - 1.85Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - MandarinAdditional Release Material: Original Theatrical Trailer
Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005.
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Andy and Tomas have earned a reputation abroad as two of the top young publicists to hail from Argentina. They return to Buenos Aires with bloated egos and open an agency of their own. Their good fortune continues as they win a coveted industry award. The celebrated publicists are now ready to throw their first party. Their guest list is full of important media figures and the wealthy elite, but Andy and Tomas also add some spice to the mix inviting prostitutes, a drug kingpin, and a pair of pickpockets. This eclectic mix is unable to be controlled by two moronic undercover cops and the soiree becomes far more than simply good publicity.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseAnamorphic Widescreen
Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005.
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The residents of a Russian mental institution become unwittingly involved in the Chechen War in this darkly romantic film by Andrei Konchalovsky (TANGO AND CASH). Janna (Julia Vysotsky) is a romantically delusional inmate who thinks she's engaged to pop star Bryan Adams. When the war comes, the medical staff flees the hospital, leaving her more or less in charge. Chechen soldiers soon invade the grounds and one of them proposes to her as a joke. She thinks he's sincere though, and finds her affections torn between the soldier and her fantasies of Adams. Through this odd love story, Konchalovsky effectively explores the parallels between the insanity of war and the insanity of the inmates, and he does so without being obvious or didactic. Also effective is the film's grainy, bleached-out look, which, combined with the realistic lunacy on display, recalls the work of Dogme'95 directors like Lars Von Trier. What sets HOUSE OF FOOLS apart from that pack, however, is the kindness and warmth of its characters, particularly Janna, who soothes the nerves of soldiers and patients alike with her compassion and accordion playing. Vysotksky gives a remarkable performance in the role, couching her character's raw vulnerability in a protective bed of delusion. As the object of her fantasies, Adams gamely appears as himself, strolling through the bomb-blasted corridors as he lip-syncs Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman. HOUSE OF FOOLS was filmed largely at an actual Russian mental institution, with many of the inmates appearing as themselves.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseAnamorphic WidescreenAudio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - Russian Dolby Surround - RussianInteractive Features: Scene Access Interactive Menus
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A lithe, lethal undercover agent, Zero, visits sweet suffering upon the targets of her clandestine missions. Beautiful, strong, and seductive, Rei has to use all of her talents here, as she attempts to infiltrate the dangerous Yakuza, and soon realizes that she may be in over her head.DVD Features:Region 1Keep Case
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This double feature contains two movies from director Lamberto Bava:A BLADE IN THE DARK:A giallo from director Lamberto Bava, A BLADE IN THE DARK stars Andrea Occhipinti (THE NEW YORK RIPPER) as Bruno, a composer trying to write a score for a horror film. Looking for some solitude in order to complete his work, Bruno rents an isolated villa in the European countryside. Unfortunately, just as he has begun to get some of his score done, he discovers the dead body of a young girl he had just met at the house. Soon, another woman is brutally murdered, and Bruno quickly becomes obsessed with finding the killer. And, when he hears what appears to be a clue on his film's soundtrack, he believes the answer to the mystery is hidden in the film he's scoring.MACABRE:Lamberto Bava, son of Mario, made his solo directorial debut with this stylish, darkly comic film about an incredibly disturbed young woman. Bernice Stegers stars as Jane, a young New Orleans mother who regularly spurns her children to spend her afternoons with her lover, Fred. However, desperate for attention, her daughter drowns her brother and calls Jane at her lover's to tell her about it. As Jane and Fred race to the house, they end up in a horrible car crash which decapitates Fred. After a year in an asylum, Jane returns to New Orleans and makes Fred's old apartment her own. Soon, the building's super hears Jane carrying on a torrid affair, even though he never sees anyone enter or leave her apartment. A fabulous debut from the younger Bava, MACABRE is an effectively bizarre and stylish thriller.
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